Songs of The Restless Dead
by Cultureshock007
Summary: First person narrative interpretation of the game Journey. SPOILER WARNING: This story follows the events in Journey and elaborates on possible themes. I do not own any of the intellectual property and the thoughts and views expressed herein are strictly my own and may not reflect those of Thatgamecompany's beautiful game. Art provided by the talented fateflyer at deviantart!
1. Chapter 1 - Tabula Rasa

There_ was light._

It danced off the sand throwing a myriad of reflections into my startled eyes. A sound... the shift of sand in the wind filled my ears. I was sitting in the sand, the sun above me beating down mercilessly on a lifeless desert.

I was alone.

I stood and granules of coarse sand slid down the burgundy robes and hood I wore as I looked around me. Stone markers with holes near their top and symbols on them all but erased by time, sand and wind stood about me everywhere tilted at odd angles. They had an odd melancholy about them I didn't understand. Some meaning I should know nagged at the edge my empty memory like an itch. I could tell they were not natural formations though how I knew that was a mystery. At the top of a hill in front of me there stood particularly tall markers with fluttering lengths of red scarf tied about them. Curious I advanced. The sand shifting beneath my feet made a noise that sounded loud in the stillness. The sun beating down on me was hot but I felt no discomfort, only awareness. The motions of walking were already familiar.

Who was I?

I crested the hill digging my feet deep into the sand to scale the dune. Getting ever closer to the tall markers but only able to see a short distance from where I walked. I crested the hill and forgot entirely about the stone markers.

A Mountain.

Faded against the dusty hue of the sky it rose impossibly tall in the distance. A Mountain split into two peaks with a soft luminescence emanating from the cleft. I felt inexplicably drawn to that light by a force greater than my comprehension. I stood transfixed, testing my will against that compulsion and trying to understand it.

I braced myself slightly and slid surefooted down the side of the dune wrenching my gaze from the compelling majesty of the mountain and spotted a raised structure ahead made of a dusty red and cream adobe veneered granite. I could not tell what sort of structure it once had been but it had broken into pieces like irregular stairs allowing me to climb easily to the top. I saw the darting moment of something red at it's top that for a fevered moment I thought was someone who could tell me why I was here and dashed forward.

The movement I had seen were short pieces of red cloth like silk scarves that danced in the breeze and I felt a momentary pang of loneliness. In front of me was an odd symbol that sparkled as though it were made of pure light. To my amazement and wonder it shifted in to another symbol and then another. Was this a message of some kind? A warning?

I hesitated but stepped closer to the strange symbol. Behind it was a broken marble slab with some kind of carvings on it. It looked like some kind of marble statue but I could not tell of what from just this broken off stump... There were symbols carved on it that much I could tell.

I ventured closer to examine it and froze with puzzlement as my ears filled briefly with a chorus of low voices, as though a room full of people stood around me murmuring too softly for me to pick up a complete word. The glowing symbol fractured into tiny runes trailing darts of light that wove themselves to the back of my hood to create a red scarf with two saffron yellow lines down the back on either side. The colour matched my robes exactly, the yellow even matching the odd repeating pattern at the hem of my robes. If this wasn't odd enough the cloth pieces which had fluttered in the wind came down and brushed their slightly rough sides against me, lighting on me for an instant and sending the the oddest feeling through my body; a lightness, as though I might jump and not fall back to earth. The empty length of scarf blazed with new symbols like those the glowing glyph had changed to. I cried out in surprise and my voice issued out as a deep musical gong with a force that rippled through the air around me and an odd glyph appeared like a faint ghost above me...

The scarves rustled as though whipped by a high wind and with a stab of fear I felt them ripple around me drawing me up into the air as though I weighed nothing! I flapped my arms in reflex sending the sides of my cloak out to either side of me like wings and to my shock I felt that lightness draw me further up.

I could fly!

I fell to the ground landing hard on my feet but I felt no pain from the fall. Turing my head I saw the symbols were once again absent from my scarf and stood dumbstruck. Who I was had been mystery enough but I had given no thought about _what_ I was.

I lifted my arms before me and examined them. They were insubstantial, more a part of the cloak I had taken for being a simple garment then actual arms. Indeed I could not pull it off or explore beneath it as it was like skin that felt like a rough spun garment. My torso and legs were of the same fabric but unpatterned and of slightly softer weave and on my chest was a glowing sigil like the one that had appeared above my head when I spoke. I spoke again, softer this time and a series of chimes issued from me softer than before.

They were not words. I recalled not exact words themselves but I knew how they sounded and the sounds I made bore no resemblance to a voice that could speak those words. Lifting my wings to my face I met a smooth featureless surface.

A mask?

No. It was a mask but I could feel there was no face beneath it. I was a creature of air and cloth and clay. Not alive but living.

I immediately disliked the thought of being some sort of animated poppet that someone had abandoned in this harsh clime but I reasoned that if I was at least I had a will and thoughts of my own. At the moment the nature of those thoughts were emotional. I wanted for someone to comfort me. I was alone and new. I couldn't help but be just a little afraid.

Looking up I contemplated the mountain and began to march toward it. In the distance I saw more flying scarves. I tried calling to them when I drew close and they came to me like before and bore me aloft. The feeling of lightness was a pleasant one and I sought to lose myself in that sensation. The cloth creatures drew me up and in the distance I glimpsed two structures. One massive and another substantially smaller. The small one seemed less daunting to approach than the larger one so I made it my first destination. It stood only one story high and appeared to once have been a part of a larger building that once had a second floor.

The inside was largely featureless except for a blank bit of wall someone had taken pains to make perfectly smooth. Two pairs of posts stood on either side looking very much like the stone markers outside but with decorative wrought iron on them instead of glyphs. As I approached a pair of these markers to study them they started to burn with an inner light and glyphs appeared on their surface. I cried in surprise activating the second set and like magic light carved a picture on the blank wall before me.

I instantly recognized that the pictures were of those stone markers in the desert. At the base of each marker was a prone figure in a cloak. I knew instinctively that these depicted figures were dead. Those markers were headstones, I was in a graveyard and a rather vast one by the looks of it. I peered back outside staggered by the thought of so many dead.

Was all the world dead and all the people in it buried beneath the sand?

Disheartened I trudged to the bigger building trying to ignore the tombstones I passed. As I drew closer to the big structure I realized it was much larger than I thought. It seemed like a large amphitheatre that thankfully was not completely filled with sand. On it's sides enclosed by protective barriers of delicate ironwork were a series of shrines side by side in a vast half circle.

I spotted another of the glowing symbols on top of a latticework pedestal creation with more of those cloth creatures around it and started making my way toward it. Calling to the creatures when I got close I flapped my wings and landed gently next the the symbol. I strained my ears to hear what the indistinct voices said as I touched the glyph which in the blink of an eye disintegrated into darts of light to add a new length to my scarf. I couldn't make anything out. Not one word.

Glancing around I took notice of a giant iron latticework gate above me with a broken length of bridge that would be an easy hop from a large platform that rose from the centre of the basin. Finding a flight of stairs at ground level I started my assent. Above me on a ledge I saw to my glee yet another glyph which I immediately flew to as though drawn by a magnetic force. My scarf was now rather long and with each new length I could fly just a little farther with no fear of falling since it seemed I had no bones to break or organs to rupture.

Reaching the top of the structure I saw four brown tattered banners that rose from grates in the floor on which I stood. They looked old and brittle as though a casual brush would damage them. I reached out delicately and brushed it's surface with my cloak and drew back with a start when my sleeve glowed on contact. The cloth turned a deep and vibrant red where I touched it. Perhaps it was like the markers and would respond to my voice...

I issued a deep knell which sent it's ripple of force out to envelop the brown tattered cloth turning it bright red with symbols all along it's length for an instant before the power overloaded it and caused it to dissolve. The grates clanked open releasing a large flock of the cloth creatures that flew crazily around me renewing the odd symbols on my scarf. I called again and the mass of them lifted me much higher than I had ever been before, propelling me well over the broken gap and onto a platform. Here was a semi-circle of headstones with that decorative ironwork like those beside the mural set before a triangular looking ornate headstone made of white marble.

Ahead of me there was a long hallway barred by a giant gate made of wrought iron. I supposed I would have to find my way around it since I could see no obvious mechanism with which to open it. Who would say if the gate would even still function old as it seemed. Perhaps it was like the mural, activated by proximity or by sound.

I chimed the loudest I could manage, my body doubling over with the effort and my bell like voice sent its shock wave through the air. The markers by the marble statue lit with their inner fire and light danced in the air before my enthralled eyes to centre on the ground where it became a softly glowing circle of light.

Curious, I stepped over to the circle. I felt no heat from it and no feeling of danger. I did feel a sort of energy in the air. An ancient strength but gentle, comforting. I wanted nothing more than to submit myself to that feeling. I was a child, scared and alone in this land of the dead. I meekly tottered into the light and folded my legs beneath me until I sat facing the marble statue savouring that feeling of belonging when the world went white...

_ A figure in the distance stood obscured by fog. I took a tentative step forward hoping that this strange apparition was real. It spoke, not with a voice but a sustained shivering note like the whisper of flutes sending a wave of light toward me. Immediately in my mind's eye I saw an sprawling mural. This was not unlike the carving I had seen on the wall though it seemed to be in deep vivid colour. I saw a picture of the cleft mountain. It spewed forth light into the dark sky of the tapestry creating symbols like the one I bore on my chest. They looked like stars. Light flickered as some of these symbols became birds and plants and still more of these glyphs became people which each bore a spark of the mountain's light. Then as I watched the mural showed me a long red cloth emerging from the ground throwing glyphs into the air around it snaking up toward the sky. People gathered around it viewing it with obvious wonder. Could this desert I was in once have been this place? Filled with animals and plants and finally the mystical red cloth that danced on the wind? It was difficult to see this harsh place ever being such a paradise._

The light faded and I was once again in the desert siting before the marble statue. That beautiful light soaked into the stones beneath me and grew dim. With a sudden clank that would have startled me were I not still dazed by what I had just seen the gate began to lurch open. The grind of ancient mechanisms at work filled the air. I rose to my feet and walked forward in a daze so lost in thought for a moment that I almost didn't see the tiny figure at the end of the hallway framed in bright light. _"WAIT!"_I screamed, the word emerging again as that deep metallic boom. I raced forward as fast as my legs could carry me forgetting for the moment that I could fly.

_"PLEASE!"_


	2. Chapter 2 - Reciprocity

Emerging into the blindingly bright light I took stock of my surroundings, searching for the figure I had glimpsed from the entrance of the corridor. I stood before a broken stub of what I surmised was once a bridge that spanned this rocky canyon. The sandy floor was dotted with rocky outcrops and odd rectangular metal structures big enough to fit a person comfortably inside. The doorway from which I had exited was very high from the floor of the canyon. From this vantage point I could make out a sort of platform at the far end of the bridge with decorative pillars lit by a column of supernatural light. It was backed by a towering cliff wall that poured an endless stream of fine sand.

There was no one there.

I focused on the obstacle the broken bridge presented trying not to feel the sharp edge of my disappointment. I hazarded that the distance to the next pile of the bridge might be possible to reach with my limited mastery over gravity. However if I dropped to the floor of the canyon the falling sand on the cliff face would make a climb impossible and I would be stranded there. Leaning out over the edge to peer with trepidation at the sandy floor far below I steeled myself for the attempt. With a running start I bounded from the safety of the ledge. Hot dusty air rushed beneath my wings as I made for the pile. I flew straight as an arrow at the segment of broken bridge feeling the thrill of risk as I defied the earth's pull.

I was going to make it!

I flapped my wings feeling my rapidly diminishing power to stay aloft. With a desperate flourish I flapped harder but felt no lift from the action. I risked a quick glance over my shoulder. The symbols on my scarf were gone. I flapped my arms vainly trying to claw at the air but it was no use. I was falling. I braced myself for impact as I plummeted down to the canyon floor.

The force of my landing caused the sand around me to fly as I landed on my feet. My robes billowed dramatically around me as I stood marvelling at the absence of pain and shook the sand from my cloak. In my excitement I had forgotten that I was not made of flesh and bone. My relief was immediately swamped by frustration as I looked up at the first segment of broken bridge and then back at the red length of scarf behind me .

I was naked of power.

To my right I saw one of the large metal objects with a faded length of rust brown banner flapping in the breeze. What this blocky steel thing was I could not say but I immediately recognized the banner as being one of those ribbon creatures from before. I approached it at a run hopping easily onto the sun heated metal and swiped an exploratory wing over it's surface. It was dull and slightly pitted from the sand. Turning to the ribbon I gave it a similar treatment and chimed my relief as blood red and gold bloomed on the surface of the tattered fragment. I called a plee for assistance to it with the wordless sound that was my voice .

The length of cloth exploded into a vibrant red before withering away in a wash of bright light. I heard the grating clank of ancient gears and a large flock of the small cloth creatures darted out of the metal enclosure. The ribbons melded, joining end to end to form an exceptionally broad length like a carpet that stretched from a partially buried length of bridge to the first broken pillar.

I rushed over to the cloth bridge and prodded it with a foot. The cloth blazed with odd symbols all along it's length and it easily held my weight. In fact it when I stepped out onto this bizarre contrivance I didn't make actual contact with it at all floating inches from it's surface. The feeling of buoyancy was quite comforting and I quickly made it to the first pile noting with satisfaction that my proximity with the cloth had renewed my power to fly. From the top of the pile I saw immediately that the other sections of bridge were simply too far away for me to reach. With a insight gathered from my recent experience I reasoned that even if I did manage to make that jump I would find no way to regain my ability to fly once I was on the next height. Looking about me for inspiration I spotted one of the glowing symbols that had imbued me with the ability to fly. It stood on a low outcrop of sandstone off to my left glittering with gold. I saw a flash of red and watched in welcome disbelief as a figure made it's way across the shifting sands toward the symbol.

It wore the same cloak and hood I did with a scarf of runes flowing behind it. It's face was a plain black mask with faintly glowing eyes. It's only ornamentation was a brass band that sat like a coronet on it's forehead. I marvelled for a moment that this must be what my face looked like. When I explored my own features with my wing I felt the same metal band on my crown.

I called to the creature with the loudest sound I could make and it halted in it's tracks to stare. I raced for the edge of the bridge springing into the air taking care to control my descent. I preserved enough power to land with only a gentle thump next to the creature.

_ "Hello!" _I called in greeting, but of course it came out as that infernal percussive noise. My fellow creature raced around me in a wide circle and intoned a similar sound which threw a ghostly symbol in the air above it's head. The symbol reminded me of two pairs of wings, one above and one below. He bore this same symbol upon his chest where it glowed with a faint light.

I mused that my own symbol had these same triangular wing like symbols but in a different configuration. I had one like the right most wing of his sigil and one that was inverted. They were interspersed with two parallel vertical lines on opposing corners. I did not know what significance this held or if it had a particular meaning but since it was the only physical difference between us I had to believe it was somehow important.

The stranger raced round me in a gesture that I took to be welcoming. He brushed up against me by accident and I felt with surprise my potential to fly return. I took to the air flying in a tight controlled circle above him. The stranger immediately sprung after me flying in crazy loops calling out in what I felt was joy. I raised my voice with him in chiming bursts of happy noise. Each burst of joyous sound filling me with more of that wondrous buoyant energy.

Remembering the glyph I had spotted from the tower I swooped toward causing it to dematerialize and add itself to the end of my scarf. I landed with a thump and immediately began chastising myself for my greed, hoping against hope that the stranger had not been offended by my taking the symbol without finding some way to consult him. I need not have feared for he swept into a graceful dive where the symbol was now just glittering fragments. The light wove a new length on to the back of his scarf in a flash of brilliance.

The stranger looked for a long moment across the rock studded ground and I followed his gaze. Ahead were more of those steel structures scattered about. Some of them bore long lengths of faded banners. I looked at my new companion and chirped in what I hoped was an inquisitive way. He nodded and chirped twice in an obvious affirmation and set off for the next of those steel objects.

I walked at his side taking comfort in this stranger's company. It seemed strange to feel so close to him both having just met him and knowing virtually nothing about who or what he was. I was so happy to find someone in this harsh place that I had abandoned all caution. He certainly did not seem hostile and if I was interpreting him correctly he was as glad for my company as I was for his. It seemed unthinkable for me to abandon him. I felt that he needed some kind of name. I couldn't remember what my own was but I felt that my companion deserved to be called something. I settled on "Wing" since the symbol on his chest reminded me of spread wings and he seemed to possess a remarkable aptitude for soaring through the air.

As we walked or flew in short bursts I was able to take in more details of the landscape. Ahead of us on a stone outcrop was a whole disjointed string of the big steel artifacts. They looked like they fit together to form some sort of round headed metal snake with two, no three, sets of wings. These monstrosities were as motionless as the rocks on which they stood and it struck me that something that heavy and unwieldy was quite unlikely to fly. Still, their placement didn't seem entirely with purpose. It was as if someone had just dropped it there and left.

Wing rushed ahead and hopped on top of the first joint of the complex of metal artifices chirping at me expectantly. I immediately jumped up beside him looked at the sun faded strip of cloth before me. Wing nudged me as though urging me to repeat the action I had performed to make the cloth bridge appear. I peered at him unsure of his intent and he motioned toward the ribbon bridge in the distance.

Turning toward the faded banner I boomed my plee which caused it to flush into brilliant red. Wing flew to anther ribbon a short distance away and called with his musical tone to it. Both ribbons dissolved as before and let loose a giant swarm of ribbon creatures who wasted no time in heading for the broken bridge and forming two long lengths of carpet to connect them. Wing chirped a rapid burst of chimes... A laugh?

Glancing at the high cliff face I noticed another glowing glyph almost obscured in a rocky hollow under a mass of falling of sand and turned back to Wing with a chirp. Wing glanced over to where I had been looking and darted ahead. I followed in his wake relishing in the feeling of expanding power as the glyph merged with my body and the murmuring voices filled my ears again.

Wing laughed his string of chirps and ducked his head beneath the falling sand. I cocked my head at him looking on with interest as he shook himself off sending puffs of sparkling sand like gold dust into the air. I mimicked his chuckle in my own string of soft chirps like the pipping of wooden flutes and raced out of the rocky shelter into the sun. Wing followed me a moment later sweeping of his wings open and racing ahead of me. I followed, sounding my call and watching with wonder as my tones caused his long scarf to replenish it's store of symbols. He called back to me and my cloak glowed with inner radiance .

I understood then that we were designed to function symbiotically. There were no limits to our strength if only we could work as a team and co-ordinate our efforts.

We sighted more ribbon creatures and released flock after flock of them from their metal prisons. I began to ponder why they had been put in these queer metal cages. They were so harmless I could fathom no reasonable purpose to locking them up. They swirled around us when we called lifting us up, swimming like schools of fish through the air...

Fish? Where had that idea come from? I knew birds, those creatures from the tapestry that flew in the air like we did. I had never to my knowledge seen either fish or water but somehow without the least scrap of reference I knew what they were. I looked at my companion who flew joyously through the air at my side. Did he also have these strange thoughts? Wing seemed so carefree. He danced on the breezes, taking pleasure in the tireless strength of our bodies by swooping to tumble purposefully head over heels through the sand as he sped along. I could not see him being preoccupied by these mysteries.

We raced across the sand calling encouragement to each other until we reached a ribbon prison before a giant sand fall. Calling the ribbons back to life I darted off toward the next before I realized Wing was trying to summon me. I swerved back and ran out of power halfway to my destination, walking back toward where Wing stood on top of the metal cage with the ribbons swarming at his back. Behind him on the cliff face about a third of the way up another glowing glyph rested.

Sheepishly I clambered up to where Wing stood. In my haste I hadn't noticed this possibly vital addition to my scarf but he certainly had. He strode over to where I fumbled and put his wing on my shoulder. I felt the pull of energy passing between us and called to the ribbons above me. We soared up to ledge with the glyph and landed with care to keep our balance with the sand flowing around our feet.

We dropped back to the desert floor the scarves at our backs slightly longer. I noted a fair sized cavern behind the falling sand from the cliff and darted through calling for Wing to follow. He did at a run, scattering sand as he pelted through after me.

Protected from the wind a platform of sandstone stood in the gloomy hollow. Two sets of markers with familiar ironwork on them rested on either side of a blank expanse of wall. I knew what they were from experience and walking over to the first set of them watched them light up. After a moment's pause Wing did the same to the other set and we watched as the hidden mural scribe itself into the stone.

The carving showed a city of tall cylindrical buildings. The memory was a dim one but I remembered that I once lived in a city much like this. I was a different creature then with clever hands to build with. I possesed other things as well, face and a name... Wing gave me a soft prod which drew me from my reverie. I looked away from that riveting picture to meet his eye. I sensed he was concerned. He chirped anxiously as I tried to communicate the confusion I felt. Wing stared at me a long moment and I was unsure he comprehended my odd behaviour until he nodded slowly and understandingly.

In unison we turned and left the cave making our way to the next grouping of those steel cages. It was the work of moments to sing our question to the imprisoned ribbons who with our borrowed strength broke free from their enclosure to swarm the bridge and forge the last missing links.

We flew calling back and forth to each other to extend our power until we landed at the foot of the great bridge. I sped forward with a string of chirps, racing for the top. Wing hastened behind me chirping his string of laughs. Powering past me Wing launched himself off the highest ribbon and looped back under the bridge flying up to tilt the ribbon I was on. I clung to it easily laughing and made it to the top with a shout of triumph.

A marble statue, identical to the one in the amphitheatre stood where the column of light had been. It was backed by a dense stream of falling sand from the top of the cliff. I skidded to a halt beside Wing. With a glance to each other we shouted together, lighting up the markers and watching as that ring light once more appeared at the base of the statue. We stepped into the light and sat down letting that gentle power overwhelm our senses.

_A figure, tall and imposing dressed in white robes and white mask looked down at me with an air of appraisal. I looked into it's blue eyes with curiosity. I felt it was very old and wiser than I by far. It drew back from me as though satisfied with either who or what I was and threw back it's head emitting a suspended note. Once again I saw the vibrant tapestry._

_I saw pillars like the ones we had just crossed being built from the desert floor. Not a bridge, a conduit. Ribbon creatures funnelled into the conduits running through them to power a great city with light like that of the mountain. I remembered the city with a greater clarity now. Light, energy and heat came from the use of these strange creatures. I recalled knowing this fact but not caring, feeling no connection to them as anything but a resource of power._

The vision faded and I found myself standing beside Wing who seemed to be coming out of a similar trance. With a clank and shifting of gears the sand falling from the cliff in front of us parted to either side of a gigantic corridor. Wing charged ahead diving into the falling sand with the express purpose of sending puffs of it everywhere. With a chime I joined him at it, flying up to create artful clouds of sand to rain over my companion. We charged off down the hall trailing dust, giddy with the thrill of our shared adventure.


	3. Chapter 3 - Insight

Down that long hallway we pelted, our steps echoing off the hard stone surfaces. The tunnel had seemed short but when we exited we did so into an entirely different land. Perhaps it was merely a trick of the light but the sand seemed more pink than before. The atmosphere here was different as well. Above us some strange vapour tinted the sky a slightly poisonous green. I could tell that both green sky and pink sand were somehow unusual but chose to admire the contrast they made as we charged through the dunes.

We stopped at the top of a high sand dune to get our bearings. If the broken bridge had crossed a dried up river bed of sand then we now stood at the edge of a variable ocean of it. The mountain lay ahead of us visible through the haze of the lower atmosphere but I was no longer so certain I wanted to hasten toward it with all due speed. My body never tired or hungered for anything. We could just stay here forever roaming this vast desert uncovering new places to play. Wing was the first to step onto the windward side of the dune and cried out in a surprised whoop as it crumbled unexpectedly sending him sliding with a wobble down the opposite side. I followed at his heels easily winding a lazy serpentine.

We powered up the side of the next dune. From the top we could see another string of those steely constructs with a single plume of faded brown tapestry reaching for the heavens. With the sun beating down it must be deathly hot inside those containers. When I had touched them before I felt instinctively that they were hot enough to damage living flesh though the temperature seemed to have virtually no effect on me. The heat probably didn't hurt the small creatures either but I doubted that the stifling interiors were pleasant.

Chirping a challenge to Wing I slid down the dune to pick up speed before launching myself directly toward the banner. Hurdling toward it I skimmed it renewing the faded colour with the contact of my body. Wing chose to avoid using the dune for momentum and orchestrated an aerial dive from above to land on the blisteringly hot metal beside me.

As mechanisms whirred releasing their precious burden I looked on expecting more of the small darting schools of ribbons. I was genuinely surprised when a single larger creature of folded over red cloth with three tails like a kite emerged instead. It sped around me in a circle and made a soft churring noise. This seemed reminiscent of the welcoming gesture Wing had used when I had first met him and the similarity gave me pause to wonder if it was sentient. Wing seemed as surprised as I was and watched the peculiar creature with curiosity as it sped off across the sands before pausing at the top of a dune some distance away to coo at us invitingly. We glanced at each other in bewilderment but followed it. We hastened along never touching the ground as we worked together to stay afloat.

I enjoyed the chase and admired the fluid grace of this new creature. It didn't seem to need others to assist it like we did to fly and it seemed so playful and friendly as it wheeled and swooped over the dunes. Wing particularly seemed to become almost immediately attached to it swooping down nimbly to stroke it's surface every once in awhile like a beloved pet.

It wasn't long before the mysterious creature lead us to a small ruin that looked a little like a piece of the bridge we had crossed. A glyph stood on one of the pillars shining like a beacon. Drawing closer I noticed another imprisoned creature reaching out from it's windowless cage at the foot of the ruin. With a grace I could not match Wing fell into a sharp manoeuvre that brought him alongside the offending metal artifact singing to the creature confined within. The doors slid open and another of the kite creatures glided out into the sun.

I surfed the dunes to the base of the ruin and flapped my wings to send myself in an arc toward the glyph drawn to that glowing letter like lodestone. With a chirp Wing joined me. Colliding with the rune his cloaked form become an indistinct blur of light for a moment as the glyph's power was added to his own. Wing and I called in excited tones to each other as we played on the ruin leaping and tumbling off the high pillars. The gentle creatures waited for us patiently until we rejoined them with apologetic chirps.

Onward we flew. I was growing more confident in the air and revelled in the thrill of it skimming low to the ground to form long furrows in the sand. A flash of colour drew me up short and my momentum sent me sprawling.

A flower.

I rose from my prone position riveted by the sight of the fragile sprig of green stem and orange blossom. Wing skidded to a halt bumping into me hard enough to make me teeter alarmingly and chirped expressing his awe. I reciprocated the chirp and stared at the solitary bloom transfixed. I knew that for all our semblance of life neither I , Wing or the cloth kite creatures were gloriously and unreservedly alive like this thing. It stood, a flag of rebellious life in the bleak and sterile world.

We sat next to the flower folding our robes neatly about our bodies. I sensed both of us felt this living wonder deserved more than a moment's consideration. We sat there meditatively until the cloth kites started to show obvious irritation at our worshipful attention. We rose and walked with them shooting backward glances at the marvel that flourished behind us.

Another ruin lay in the next valley. Wing sailed ahead diving through one of the arches that stood atop the ruin at high velocity, sliding easily through it to the other side. I tried to emulate this trick and failed, smacking into the wall with a loud thud. I was thankful that I could not be hurt this way however my pride stung as I dropped to the base of the ruin with a shower of sand and a frustrated chirp. At least I had been spared some embarrassment for Wing had not witnessed my disgraceful attempt at aerobatics. I heard him call and stalked around the open side of the structure having depleted my reserves of energy.

Wing stood patiently before four glowing markers and another of the hidden murals. This one showed people in a vast field of crops with birds overhead. Drawing the conclusion that it was depicting the landscape where we stood as it looked in the ancient past I assessed our surroundings with a critical eye.

What could have caused this place which may have once been a stretch of fertile farmland to turn to pink dust? A draught perhaps? Over farming was a likely culprit, deadening the soil until no living thing could grow. With an upward glance to the uncanny green sky above us I could not rule out the possibility of some cataclysmic event altering the atmosphere. That might also explain why our ancestral race had gone extinct and I saw no living animals. The cloth creatures certainly wouldn't have been effected in that case. If they had needed to breathe they would have long since smothered confined in their steel enclosures.

I mused over these possibilities as we sped onward to the next ruin. New concepts and ideas popping into my head that given my limited lifespan should have made no sense. Knowledge didn't just get conjured up from oblivion, I had to have learnt it somewhere... It felt as though I had an elaborate puzzle laid out before me. The mountain, the murals of a distant past, my lost memory and the imposing figures in white from my visions, they all fit together but I had yet to find the connections.

As we flew over a high dune another partial structure was revealed to us. Winging over to it we did a quick circuit of the ruin giving it a cursory inspection for anything of interest. This one didn't seem remarkable in the least. It looked as though it had once been a cylindrical sort of building. The stones that comprised it had been worn featureless by the wind obscuring the clues to what purpose it once served. It reminded me of a broken clay pot sitting upright on it's base. About to dismiss the structure as one of the less interesting things we found a flash of light in the sky caught our attention. It looked like a meteor. It rocketed from the direction of the mountain trailing it's spectacular trail of burning gases. My fascination turned to fear. It was heading directly toward us!

I dove for cover as it flared above me. Wing screeching melodiously in fright took to the air. Then, an instant before the meteor hit the building it did a curious thing.

It changed course!

Peering up at it in confusion as it performed an aerial manoeuvre akin to a pitchback it became immediately apparent that the object was nothing so mundane as a falling star. It collided with a crash like thunder at the top of the ruin but did not cause it any damage. Quite the contrary! It now stood as a glyph radiating an aura of light that as I looked on enthralled became a school of little fluttering red ribbon creatures.

Intrigued I stood in the midst of the ribbon swarm. With a dazed chirp Wing landed beside me with an uncharacteristic heaviness. He started up at the glyph with such a meek tentativeness so unlike his usual bravado that I chimed a mild concerned inquiry. He looked at me for a long moment. I could imagine him wearing a rather a stunned expression but our faces were incapable of performing such a task. With a cheerful sort of chirp I shrugged and pointed at the glyph. He held my gaze a moment longer and gave a curt nod.

I summoned the ribbons with a loud knell and snagged the glyph. I felt rather insulated from surprises after enduring so many mysteries that one more, as spectacular as it had been in presentation, did not daunt me. Wing however seemed a little more shaken by our latest experience. I think perhaps he had been taking the information we had uncovered in stride being the happy-go-lucky sort. He had seemed content to simply follow the trail of breadcrumbs to see where it lead rather than try and anticipate what would come next. The perceived danger probably came as a sudden unanticipated shock. After taking his share of the glyph's power he regained a small measure of his adventurous spirit but chose to trail closely behind me as we flew. The cloth creatures lead us up a high dune but partway up I noticed a tall tower in the distance and chimed at them before altering course to investigate.

The tower was the tallest artificial structure I had yet seen. The steps were broken but we paid them no mind reaching the top with ease where another glowing glyph awaited us. We collected it as we had the others but Wing did so with hesitation not yet fully recovered from his scare.

Formulating a quick plan I landed on the roof chanting a string of happy chimes and bounced up and down as though exuberantly excited from the discovery, acting the fool to cheer up my friend. I bounced and shuffled slightly backwards until I reached the side of the tower and hamming up the slapstick performance for all it was worth pretended to bounce accidentally off the tower to drop with a startled yelp to the desert below.

Pretending to be unbalanced when I hit the ground I fell face down into the sand. A few seconds later I heard a muffled thump and approaching footsteps. A number of gentle kicks impacted my right side. I looked up at Wing. His posture appeared more relaxed and he uttered a single happy chirp before offering a wing to help me up.

Wing indicated another creature held prisoner in metal at the foot of the tower and we hastened to help it. I hadn't minded the smaller ribbons being held captive for they displayed little sign of sentient thought but these larger creatures seemed intelligent. I disliked the thought of them being imprisoned for aeons in isolation. If my suspicions were correct we had used them rather unethically as a power supply for our machines. When I was alive the issue seemed much more clear cut.

Power was power. I hadn't cared where it came from.

Wing landed beside me and ducked into a tunnel in some nearby ruins where a string of metal cages rested. I followed at a run wondering again what these weird things were. I had thought them storage containers but it seemed more and more likely that they were disjointed pieces of some sort of machine. As though aware of the questions about the hulking metal masses I was contemplating the kite flock lead us to another mural which showed us a relief of crops , birds and big coiled serpentine things in the sky with people on their backs. Seeing this confirmed my suspicions.

With sudden clarity I remembered watching the unwieldy constructs flying in formation overhead. I could tell that I hadn't been intimately aware of how they functioned even when I had full access to a lifetime of experience but recalled at least some basic detail. Some of the metal joints held the cloth creatures which powered the flying machines and other hollow compartments had been used for cargo.

They were transports!

Continuing our headlong chase of the creatures we flew. Swooping down to skim I spotted another machine ahead. This one was complete, not functional but fully intact. It looked to me like a giant iron clad dragonfly.

A Jörmungandr golem.

The words felt heavy in my mind, weighted with sudden familiarity. I did not like these things with their captured burdens of innocents and I wasted no time in calling to life the brown ribbon that grew from a vent in it's back. Wing, who had been looking with curiosity at it's steel carapace and kicking it lightly jumped back as a large group of the ribbon creatures lept to freedom.

We sang in happiness and the creatures swooped toward us, lifting us up and depositing us on their backs as they levitated us to the top of the cliff. We followed them. Dancing in the afternoon sun. Watching Wing sing his admiration to our playful hosts sending his characteristic symbol in translucent bursts into the air I began to think that his symbol did somehow represent flight. The two wings of his sigil reminded me of the Jörmungandr golem's stubby wings.

We flew as part of the flock of kites over the sand toward the mountain passing now familiar landmarks. We crested a hill and drew up short. Before us was a large tower but this tower was unlike any we had encountered. It clanked and thudded in an unceasing rhythm whipping the sand around it to create a haze of flying dust. Wing took the lead, his dauntless courage seemed restored in full as we followed the cloth creatures to the base of the tower.

I immediately disliked this place and I chimed my worry to Wing who chirped encouragingly back. The kites swept beneath us lifting us to a broken set of stairs which we followed to an iron latticework that let us see inside the tower. Inside a score of the kites swirled about in an agitated fashion. One had gotten stuck in the ironwork and was trying to get free. Wing chirped his strength to the poor creature who used the power to free itself. It circled Wing rubbing against him like a cat. Darting beneath him it lifted him to the top of the tower and returned to give me the same treatment. We walked over a pathway to circle the upper level of the tower gaining full understanding of it's function.

It was a factory.

The titanic mechanisms loaded the cloth creatures into the Jörmungandr. The heads of the golems glowed a chill turquoise as the creatures supplied them with power. I sounded my most alarmed note but could find no means to release them. The friendly cloth propelled us further upwards and Wing and I went immediately to work searching for a mechanism to free their trapped brothers. Around the side of the tower we found a glyph but we were deaf to the voices that murmured from the distant past in our frantic search. We headed further up and saw another of those marble statues. We raced to either side activating the beacons and summoning the light. Without hesitation we stepped into the glowing circle...

_The Figure in White stood before me. I looked it steadily in the eye. "Won't you please let them go?" I asked it silently. The Figure paused as though considering my request and looked off into the distance sounding it's musical note summoning the vision of the tapestry. I watched as it showed me a stylized version of the tower on which I stood. A vast city began to consume the farmland around the tower. The buildings were taller and taller reaching up into the sky._

I came to standing facing the tower. Metal grates opened with a crunch expelling the creatures who were now too numerous to count. I shouted in relief hearing Wing voice a similar whoop. Two of the creatures called in their soft coo and we raced down to meet them. They swooped in and picked us up effortlessly. I cried out in surprise and then in euphoric ecstasy as we raced over a high wall and toward the setting sun with the flock of cloth creatures at our backs.


	4. Chapter 4 - Gravity

The sun painted the sand with brilliant gold flecks as the kites set us down. The wind plastered my robes to my back as it seized me in it's grasp propelling me irresistibly down the slope. Wing cried out in glee shooting past me as he sailed on the breeze. Ahead I saw a series of stone arches. My competitive spirit flared to life. Wing may have been better in the air but from what I had witnessed I was more nimble on the slopes. I made a sharp turn and shot through the first arch and made a quick correction to ride a wave of billowing sand through the second. Wing reined up next to me as I shot through the third chiming what sounded like admiration.

I cut a hard right and he mimicked my motions as I manoeuvred up a broken prow of ruin. Another of the glowing sigils lay hidden there. I plowed through the symbol and off the end of the ruin performing a celebratory back flip as Wing cheered behind me. My ears filled with roar of moving air and I abandoned myself to the mad thrill of reckless speed. I cut a hard left to slip through another arch before entering a narrow tunnel. Laughing his string of chirps Wing started to weave back and forth reaching out to brush my trailing sleeves with each pass. I joined him, co-coordinating my movements to help scribe a long binary helix in the sand.

We burst into the open air voicing our gleeful wordless shouts as we fell. Wing chimed a warning to me and flapped his wings to slow his decent slightly before banking to the right. I pumped my arms and flew behind him sighting another of the glowing sigils that Wing had already noticed. My friend with his characteristic flare landed deftly on an outcrop on the cliff face where the sigil rested and turned to watch me match his feat. Misjudging the added velocity the from the fall I skittered right past him through the symbol and off the ledge with a dismayed cry. I fell to earth with so much force that on impact I sent ripples of sand in every direction.

Shaking out the sand from the folds of my robes I looked up to see Wing peering down at me. He gave me a mocking call which I answered with frustrated clang. With a skip Wing jumped down lightly beside me and chirped with such a gloating air that there seemed only one appropriate response. I pushed him over. Taking no offence he picked himself back up with another of his laughs and vigorously shook the sand off himself so that it sprayed all over me. Chuckling we set off to explore. This place had high walls with an opening high up. I saw three brown ribbon tails coming out of the backs of still more collapsed Jörmungandr golems and pointed them out to Wing who nodded.

Wing freed the captive kite as I gave a fallen Jörmungandr a thorough inspection. This one was largely intact probably having slowed it's descent enough to not go all to pieces like the others scattered around but enough to damage the inner workings. Wing joined me looking over the damages. He pointed out some particular scrapes and chimed in a distracted cadence that sounded almost like speech. I watched Wing as he traced some of the deeper dents in the Jörmungandr's head with his sleeve becoming rather absorbed in what he was doing. He continued to chime in a long lilting sequence and looked around at a disconnected pieces which seemed to be from another golem.

Perplexed I trailed behind him. It was clear he was talking to himself but whether he was ruminating on the possible causes of malfunction or recalling some personal memory was unclear. He had displayed interest in an intact Jörmungandr before. I hypothesized that his memory was returning in bits and pieces like mine was. From the way he seemed to be puzzling something out I would have been willing to wager that in life he had more contact with the golems than I did and had some better insight as to what caused them to fall from the sky.

Spotting an opening at the far end of the small box canyon I went to investigate leaving Wing lost in thought by the golems. A helpful swarm of ribbons provided a boost up to the recess. There was another mural here. When I activated it's markers it showed me a picture of a city filled with people. I tried to recall what the city looked like and was rewarded for the effort as vague details coalesced into random scraps of memory. Streets with markets, gardens stocked with flowers, faint music filtering through the corridors of pink sandstone... _Pink sandstone_...

The sand of the desert we had just came through had a pink tint.

I rejoined Wing who was now peering between two sections of Jörmungandr and chirped a distracted greeting. Wing put a sleeve to the base of his chin in a pensive gesture not seeming to hear as he studied a fragment of Jörmungandr in the sand. Finding a ruin nearby I hopped up to a window ledge as Wing paced the courtyard. Sitting down I meditated on my findings as I looked out over the shimmering deserted ruins.

How much time had passed since this vibrant city had fallen silent? Certainly long enough for anything made of wood to crumble to dust, I saw only metal and stone left in the structures still standing. The remaining buildings puzzled me as well. So much of them had been pulverized to fine sand. Time alone hadn't done that sort of damage. Thinking back to the city as it existed in my memory I thought about the people who had lived there. What had happened to them? Did I have friends and family somewhere wearing a red cloak as I was? Was the symbol on my chest my name? I focused on clearing my mind of these fruitless speculations.

A chime from below brought me back to the present. Wing gazed up at me from the ground expectantly and I realized the light was fading. I saw one last dart of brown banner below me and jumped from the window ledge. Wing danced around me in a circle. I reciprocated this playful gesture and ran off to the last brown cloth which we freed with a synchronized suspended note.

The cloth kites we had freed twined in the air before sinking into three mechanisms set in the ground. We heard the clank of gears and a large grate opened in the floor releasing a swarm of smaller ribbons. Singing to them we let them carry us to the platform atop the wall and looked out over the slope. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The city was sunk deep in the sand their irregular ridges casting deep shadows. The sand sparkled like the surface of the ocean. I saw a line of arches and in a trice dove from the platform booming my challenge to Wing over the high wind. Diving after me Wing joined me just as I went through the first arch and I watched as the shifting sand sent Wing too far off the mark. If I could I would have smiled at his slightly irritated sound as he slammed into the side of the arch and sped up chiming at him to follow.

I balanced on the ridge heading for a jut of stone and launched myself into a canyon high on the cliff face. At the end of the rift another sigil rested and I shouted in victory as I picked it up diving to the floor of a ravine to surf through more arches. The slope lead into what appeared to be the mouth of a massive cavern. Entering I was surprised to find that I was in a long pillared hall over looking the ruined city.

The atmospheric haze which had turned the desert sky green at noon caused the most spectacular sunset. This part of city was mostly still standing and it was thrown into sharp silhouettes by the sinking sun which turned the flowing gusts sand to a river of liquid gold. The cloth creatures I had rescued swirled around me as I surfed along totally transfixed by the beauty stretching out before me. It was though it were a sculpture of titanic proportions, the towers reaching up to scrape the sky with their dark spires and crumbling arches. I slowed as the wind died down before plunging down the next slope. This slope was even steeper and as I pelted down it performing nimble flips off protruding chunks of stonework it occurred to me that in my rapt viewing of this lost civilization I had neglected to pay attention to Wing. I looked around unable to see him but the slope was cast in shadows. I sang out in alarm and heard no answering call.

The slope became steeper and my calls more frantic. _"WING!"_ I shouted in my sonorous but unintelligible call. I went faster and faster picking up speed as the slope grew steeper still. I tried to dig in my heels to slow my progress but I was going too fast. I saw the ledge before me and skipped the barrier before I sailing into space and plummeting like a stone past structural beams.

Down

down

_down..._

Rapidly fluttering at the last second I bent my knees to absorb the shock of my fall. This place was cast in deep shadow and silent as the grave. I saw the white stone marker with it's attendant markers up ahead but made no move to approach them. I cried out for Wing over and over.

The was no response.

I paced for hours around the enclosure I now found myself in. On a ruin in the corner was a mural which I activated more as something to distract me than to satisfy my curiosity. On it were people on the backs of a pair of opposed Jörmungandr each side holding between them a length of torn scarf. I was too agitated to contemplate it's meaning and roamed and raged until my angry knells turned into the softer keening of grief. I fell over and laid motionless in the sand.

How could I have been so careless! I hadn't even noticed him falling behind. I imagined him stuck in a similar pit unable to fly without my help, trapped. I felt like I should feel sick but I was not physically capable of feeling the gut wrenching nausea of anxiety. I felt insubstantial as a cobweb. I wanted that visceral reaction. I wanted to cry.

I had lost my only friend.

Night fell and a chill crept into the air. It was impossible to turn back. If I continued on there was a chance however slim that I would meet Wing further up the road. Remaining here until I was tattered and faded would not make things right. I walked with slow measured steps turning my back on the city. I called the marble figure to life hearing the hollow sound of my voice reverberate off the walls. The light appeared at my feet but did nothing to soothe my grief. I sat down and bowed my head as the vision came...

_The figure in White stood before me with it's back to me. It's head was bent and it's shoulders slightly slumped . It seemed ashamed somehow. It rose it's head and sung out bittersweet tones. I saw before me the city I had seen before. It was brightly lit but as I watched the light sputtered and faded the cloth creatures dissolved into the air one by one. People fought over the remaining cloth ripping them in half as they tried to wrestle them away from their fellows. An army marched with the Jörmungandr flying overhead. Thunder rolled and explosions shook the night as the Jörmungandr destroyed the cities levelling them to dust._

The light faded and I felt betrayed.

I remembered it now. I had not realized how much of a blessing my fragmented memory had been as the pieces came together at last. The promethian cloth had grown scarce. We had become dependant on it's power and demand for cloth doubled and tripled as the cities grew without constraint. When the shortages persisted people overthrew their governments and became militarized factions. The situation worsened as the years went on. Conflicts not genteel enough to be considered wars lasted years. It devastated the cities and killed millions as it escalated. The sigil I bore on my chest was a damning mark that I could not remove. It was the mark of the faction I had fought for.

With a pang I recalled the sigil on Wing's chest. We had not borne the same symbol, he had belonged to a rival faction. We had been bitter adversaries in life but treasured companions in death. I could not hate him. I hated myself and I hated the sigil that burned on my chest like a brand proclaiming my sins. I wanted to tear it from my body and cast it away. I wanted to scream that I was not that person anymore! I knew I had fought in the conflicts, killing until I was killed in turn. I recalled the bright light of the Jörmungandr golem which had ended my life and the shock waves which had shattered my bones and eviscerated my mortal form. For an instant I felt the echo of that physical pain and trembled.

_We had destroyed the world._

A gate behind the white statue creaked and grated as the gears activated drawing the gargantuan doors open. I dashed forward trying to put as much distance between myself and that cursed white rock as possible. Trying in vain to outrun my guilt.


	5. Chapter 5 - Armistice

Chapter 5 The Sunken Passage

Cold moonlight light filtered through the beams casting a circle of iridescent white in the murky blue shadows of the great spaces beneath the city. The air was chilly and damp. The way my voice echoed and resonated off the walls made me feel as though I were underwater. The gate closed behind me, antiquated gears booming in the still air. I was grateful, had it succumbed to rust and sand contamination I would have been trapped forever. I sprinted up the hill and stepped into the light. It was not magical in nature as the light of the ancestral stone statues but it possessed a surreal quality. I tilted back my head to gaze at the moon through a gap in the rafters and let it's pure white radiance burn the bile from my thoughts. The mysteries of this place were unravelling the closer I came to the mountain. I pawed the sigil on my chest no longer insulated from it's meaning and bowing my head in shame covered it with a sleeve. I was no longer certain I wanted to continue. A flash of red in the gloom caught the corner of my eye.

There!

Over by a standing ruin was a red clad figure meditating quietly on a stone with their back to me. _"WING!"_ I exclaimed in an cacophonous incomprehensible blast of noise. I ran as quickly as my legs could carry me, the joy of our reunion vaporizing the shadows that had been sown in my heart. Wing scabbled in the dust, scurrying on all fours to crouch behind a thin post of the ruin. I laughed at this new antic and chimed my relief in bursts. I slowed to a walk as I approached forgetting for a moment that I could not talk. _"I'm so glad to see you I was so afraid I wouldn't see you... again..."_ Wing remained behind the post. As I drew close I realized he was shaking and refusing to face me. Was he angry for me abandoning him? I gave my most apologetic sounding chime. In response he shot me a wretched glare so laced with hate that even the mask's frozen features could not conceal it. The glyph on his chest had changed...

_It wasn't Wing._

I backed away refusing to turn my back on this old enemy. Doubtless it remembered the war as well as I did. I could not count on it not to take up our old grudge and find some means to betray me. I would be better off making the Journey to the mountain alone. I decided to give the stranger a wide berth and continue on.

I halted in my tracks.

The stranger, it's scarf empty of any sigils, still quivered in it's vulnerable crouching position fixing me with it's accusing stare as though expecting me to strike it down. We may not have made the journey together but we walked the same path. We had been reborn with our identities and prejudices stripped from us so we would not be blinded by them. Somewhere beneath those red robes was another spirit as lost and alone as I was. Did I abandon him to walk alone because rifts of the distant past divided us along superficial lines? It would be much easier to forgive this fellow lost soul than it would be for me to forgive myself. The war was over, no one had won.

With new eyes I reviewed my recent actions. I had charged at him yelling my percussive blasts like I intended to run him down probably frightening him rather terribly. He had depleted the power in his scarf before my arrival and was vulnerable. Running would have made him an easy target for an airborne pursuer. My own scarf was half full of symbols, in his place I would have seen that as a threat. That at least could be easily rectified. I lifted myself into the air hovering until the symbols at my back were depleted. I bowed my head singing soothing tones. For the first time I was grateful for not being able to speak for I would have been at a loss for what to say. I sang until the stranger stopped trembling. They cocked their head at me obviously confused at my actions. I raced away to run in a wide circle. As I completed the second rotation I pretended to catch my foot on my scarf and face planted into the sand. I felt a stab of remorse as I did so. The action was very much akin to one I performed for Wing's benefit to cheer him from his gloom.

I rose slowly and chirped cheerfully at the stranger who peered at me suspiciously. For a long moment they looked uncertain. I remained stock still doing my best to seem intimidating and frighten the stranger further. He started toward me hesitantly, stopping several times to watch me pensively for a reaction as he closed the distance between us. I stood still but relaxed as he drew closer looking around at my surroundings so not appear as though I was fixing him with an intimidating glare. At last the stranger stood at arms length from me tension emanating from every fibre of their body. Tentatively he reached out a wing toward me. I fought the urge to flinch away. With a gentle brush the stranger dusted the sand off my hood experimentally. He looked me in the eye with his unblinking stare trying to gauge whether or not to trust me.

I reached out with slow deliberate movements to rest my sleeve gently on the stranger's shoulder and the golden trim of their cloak glowed white. The sigil on his chest blazed with brightly at my touch. I had named Wing because of the symbol on his chest. I felt somewhat relieved knowing that his symbol didn't actually mean "wing". I wasn't sure I was that fond of the idea of someone naming me after something I was ashamed to have taken part in. I wrestled for inspiration as to what to call him as I cocked my head to the side and pointed in the direction of the mountain.

He nodded in reply.

Broken pieces of conduit that once channelled the promethian cloth lie scattered everywhere were they had fallen from above. We set off at a steady walk toward them. Peeping and chirping to my new companion some largely meaningless chatter I strode through the broken segments of conduit. In a segment that lay propped up on another length of conduit I spotted a glint of light off in a far corner and flew over to investigate. Inside another sigil shifted and changed cycling into different characters. Recognition stirred under the heavy blanket of fog that still enveloped my memory. I realized that though I could not read these glyphs I knew what they were. These were the old script. Priests used to scribe the words on charms to evoke everything from good fortune and fair weather to good health and protection from enemies. When I was alive I had believed it an antiquated superstition Under present circumstances I was willing to admit I may have been wrong.

My companion perched beside me on the lip of the conduit. They stared at the glyph with rapt attention giving out a chirp. I looked up at the glyph on the stranger's chest with new insight into it's origin and new meanings began to unfold. We had committed the impiety of scribing our war banners and uniforms with the old words. Is it possible that is why we were here? I had never been much of a student of the old language but even I couldn't have walked through life without learning a few characters. I knew that each had three meanings a greater, a lesser and an abstract. Mine meant moon , mirror or truth depending on how it was read. My companion's sigil meant inferno, fire or fury.

I could not think of anything less fitting to call my shy and reserved companion.

I watched my new friend blaze with golden light as he picked up the shining glyph. I made up my mind to call him Aether. It was one of the handful of old words I remembered that had nothing to do with the factions. If I recalled correctly it meant sky, light or substance. I hoped the name would bring him luck in this dark cavern. Cresting a hill we came upon a place where the promethian cloth had taken root to look for all the world like strands of seaweed gently tossed by the current. I raced toward them. This had once been a routing place for the conduits which stood in disjointed lengths, some of them with great holes in the sides where other pieces had fallen on them breaking them open. I climbed in the mouth of one such conduit and called for Aether who looked up at me from the ground. He chimed anxiously at me and shifted his feet. I called again to encourage him and he took wing to join me.

We explored the conduits and found another sigil in one suspended above the floor. Bounding from cloth to cloth I slid and spun and wheeled through this garden like a giddy child. I chimed in genuine pleasure as I romped about. Aether was more reserved but my euphoria was infectious and soon he joined me in a game of chase among the fronds. Moving to the next room we found new varieties of promethian cloth that looked like leafy kelp and a curious jellyfish like formation which purred and chimed when touched. On the top of the highest cloth creature was yet another sigil and we marvelled at the absurd length of our scarves. The next room had collapsed opening up a sub level through which we advanced until the sight of something brought us to a halt. It was the armoured plate head of a Jörmungandr Golem...

_It was glowing._

Aether clanged with alarm and bolted back the way we came. I ran after Aether who in blind panic was trying to scale the height we had jumped to reach this sub level. In blind panic he dropped back to earth his scarf not holding sufficient charge. He scrabbled madly at the wall trying to scale its glacial surface as I tried to tell him this Jörmungandr was buried so deep in the sand that it was impossible for it to do us harm. _"We have to go on."_ I tried to say with my rhythmic cadence. I gave him a gentle headbutt in the direction of the turquoise glow. He replied with a look of such helplessness that I drew him close in a one armed hug. I could feel him shaking. I drew away and looked over my shoulder at the Jörmungandr. I didn't think I'd like what I was about to see up ahead but I knew we had to press on. Aether placed his sleeve on mine and I turned back to look at him. He was still trembling but I sensed that he trusted me to see him through this visit to our unpleasant history. I lead the way through the hallway and into the room beyond.

I almost exclaimed aloud from shock but managed just in time to stop myself. I felt Aether draw closer to me. We were in a hall of deactivated Jörmungandr. This looked to be a hangar of them. They lined the walls in deathly still ranks their faceless plate masks closed and dim. I chirped my softest whisper to Aether who responded in turn with another even quieter chime and ventured farther ahead cautiously. We stayed in the centre, unwilling to risk approaching those sleeping dragons to either side of us. I knew these things could be driven manually from a cockpit in their head but more often than not they were left on automatic. I didn't know if their proximity censors were still functioning but I didn't want to find to find out.

We rounded a broken stump of a golem buried in sand. One of the deactivated monsters sat in it's coiled "at rest" position like a guardian statue blocking the path to the next hangar with another golem laying close by. This second golem lay like the ones on the desert, as though it had dropped from the sky. There was a dart of movement and I flinched but quickly noted it was only a kite floating nearby cooing at us an invitation to play. With a sudden roar the Jörmungandr that had lain dormant at the foot of the docked golem sprang to life shattering it's coiled twin. It lunged forward snapping it up the kite in it's maw. Frozen with terror we watched as it sped up and away through the miles of conduit above us.

_They were still alive._

My mind reeled with the phantom crunch of pulverized bones in my ears and I felt warm blood soaking through my robes. I felt a rough buffet which knocked me out of the hallucination. Aether chimed quietly but insistently peppering me with light punches to force me out of my shocked stupor. He had to have been terrified out of his wits but had remained by my side instead of running back to the safety of the passage.

I could not ask for a braver companion.

I recovered settling my robes nervously and chiming with false bravado at my friend. I lead as we stalked past the broken remains of the golem all our senses alert. We scuttled down a hallway to the next hangar which was almost identical to the one we had just passed through. Ranks of Jörmungandr golems leered at us from either side . Ahead of us a Jörmungandr wove a figure eight beaming it's searchlight on a hapless swarm of the ribbons. It drew back like a striking cobra before plowing through them. It struck me that this was how these massive machines had remained active for so long. They hunted and consumed the promethian cloth which renewed their power. I made a personal note to stay as far from those searchlights as I could. My body was comprised of promethian cloth, I didn't want to become fodder for those massive brutes if I could help it.

The golem soared off in search of more food and we crossed into the next hangar without incident. Off to the left on a wall almost invisible in the murky gloom was another mural. Once activated it showed us a picture of the manufacture of the Jörmungandr. We didn't feel inclined to hang around admiring it. Through the hangar we ran our fear held loosely in check. A hunting golem almost caught us in it's rays as we scurried like vermin past more of the docked monstrosities. I glimpsed one of the things coming up on us from behind and cried an alarm to Aether who turned and froze in the path of the oncoming monster paralysed with fear.

The Jörmungandr's cyclopian eye turned blood red as it locked onto it's target.

_"NO!" _I screamed veering toward the golem. I threw myself between it and it's target screaming a war cry. I fluttered in front of it's face forcing it to break it's lock on Aether hurling angry curses at it. I heard Aether screech in horror as the beast turned it's focus on me. I braced myself for impact. It slammed into me with a force that would have turned my mortal body to jelly. With surprising daintiness it slammed it's visor down on my scarf jerking it as a crow does a worm to pull it from the ground. My own mass worked against me and the scarf broke midway sending me tumbling,

I have no words to describe the unimaginable pain it caused. It did not stem from any one part of my body but consumed the whole of it and felt like nothing else I had experienced before. I was tossed like a rag doll into one of the dormant Jörmungandr and bounced off it's unforgiving steel skin off to land in the sand. I was badly stunned but at least I was still... well "alive" is the best term. I heard Aether's frantic peeping. He approached me at a run. I lurched to my feet and hobbled a few steps toward him with a weak chirp. He slammed into me embracing me fiercely. I felt the pain vanish with the contact and leaned into the hug accepting his affection without reservation.

A strange thought occurred to me.

I used my cloak to raise his face up to look me in the eye. I had once been much more attuned to small hints of body language and I called on that now. Aether's gestures and movements did not seem...masculine. Our red robed forms had no gender but we retained some remnant of our body language from when we were alive. When I was alive I had been very aware of the subtle gestures exclusive to women. In my current form I was incapable of feeling romantic attraction so the observation was more academic than I was accustomed but I sensed that Aether had been female when she lived. I was also certain she was not a fighter like I had been. There were plenty who had served as medics and engineers during the wars and plenty of citizens who supported the factions without taking part in the actual fighting. Female combatants were tough and eager to prove that they were up to any task. Aether seemed too demure and timid for that. If I was correct about her origins then she had justified reason to be skittish. There had been a number of atrocities and massacres that had happened against poorly armed civilian sympathizers... particularly female ones.

I drew back from her to tap the forehead of my mask against hers with an audible click. I willed my immobile face to express that I was okay and that little lasting damage had been done. She buried her head in my robes which muffled her chirp. She sounded relieved. I took stock of my surroundings. The monster had thrown me quite some distance. I now rested far to the right of the path near the hangar's separating wall. My scarf was drastically shorter but probably still long enough to see me through whatever trials lay ahead. With Aether's help I reasoned should be able to keep up despite my slight disadvantage.

We took a chance in the next room and wove our way through the deactivated golems with extreme care. Seeing a glyph hidden by a patch of ruins we psyched our selves up and dashed across the open space to snag it. A golem passed us flying slowly down the middle of the hangar and once it was clear we sprinted to the next opening. The hangar opened onto a steep slope where patrolling Jörmungandr circled. In the distance I could see the White marble marker of the ancients and a stone structure that reminded me of the front of a temple.

I weighed the risk. I could see no other way to reach the marker without alerting the Jörmungandr golems. If we managed to time our decent correctly we might slip by the searchlights unscathed or if we moved fast enough we might be able to shelter in the temple entryway. I indicated to Aether with a tilt of my head that we should head down the slope. I expected her to hesitate but she looked me dead in the eye with new found resolve and nodded. She turned and jumped off the edge sliding down the slope first. Caught off guard I jumped off after her trying to catch up.

Avoiding the beams of the Jörmungandr was impossible. They locked in first on me and then on Aether who whipped agilely down the slope. The monsters charged with a speed that I knew would overtake us. I prayed desperately that both of us would survive this encounter. Faster and faster we raced, the Jörmungandr on our heels. They were gaining ground as we plunged into a graveyard at the bottom of the slope. In seconds they would be upon us. Bright golden light like the first rays of dawn gathered around us on the graves. Glyphs formed on the temple sides creating a curtain of soft amber illumination. We slid through the light like shadows as the temple's lanterns lit. The Jörmungandr dove shrilling their metallic war cry but hit that seemingly insubstantial barrier with a percussive blast like the clanging of a temple bell and pulled up at breakneck speed screeching their fury. Aether flopped over on her back in the sand and chimed in relief. I laughed, dancing around her all pretence of dignity abandoned as I whooped my ecstatic relief and knelled my gratitude to the spirits of the old religion. The statue lay ahead. Winging our way over the graves below we activated the markers and stepped together into the circle of light.

_I stood side by side with one of the Figures in White. We gazed across the misty distance at the cloven mountain that still seemed so far away. It looked down at me and I looked up at it. In that breath of time a feeling passed between us. I could not change what had happened but I had been given a chance learn from my mistakes. It spoke and I once more saw the tapestry before me. I saw the ancient battle which had tainted the atmosphere with dust and poisoned the air with deadly fumes. The dead lay beneath the sand which swallowed the broken remains of the cities. The sky cleared, the dust settling. Stars appeared over the desert filling an empty sky. I saw the souls of the departed, not as the factions they represented but as the names of people I knew. A new light appeared in the heavens and descended to the earth to become a red cloaked figure... _Me.

The tapestry faded from my mind's eye and the doors opened onto another hall. Ornate lanterns overhead lit with warm inviting light. Aether chirped and lead the way. I followed with only one backward glance to the glowing sigils which had saved our lives. I had a feeling this journey was far from over.


	6. Chapter 6 - Purification

The cistern.

An immense structure that once supplied water for millions stood dry and empty. I had not been an engineer but I remembered hearing about these deep underground wells. The mechanisms within the central pillar held promethian cloth which purified the water of contaminants and provided the power necessary to pump it to the city above us. Standing at the sandy bottom of the reservoir we strained our necks to see the top of the central tower. I doubted I had appreciated the engineering feat the building of these colossal wells represented when I was alive. Few had occasion to observe this architecture from such a unique perspective. I felt very small.

Recalling me to the present with a brush of her sleeve Aether glanced up at the tower and back at me expectantly. This presented a serious problem. My scarf was much shorter than hers from my encounter with the Jörmungandr and this deficit was going to make a vertical assent particularly difficult. "No sense in dwelling on past mistakes" I thought to myself hunting the for a good place to start our climb. A shrine built into the far wall with a mural as it's centrepiece caught my eye. I lifted into the air toward it with Aether just a beat behind. Try as I might I could think of no reason why someone would have put something like this here. Even the best swimmers would have drowned long before reaching the bottom of the cistern. What would be the purpose of putting a mural where no one could see it?Intrigued I stepped up onto the raised stone floor of the shrine and walked over to the first set of markers. Aether needed no prompting. She walked decisively up to the other set of markers and activated the posts with a touch of her wings.

A lone figure stood in the desert.

I ran an exploratory sleeve over the image. It was a picture of my rebirth, but how!? I had been reborn long after the last of our ancient civilization had crumbled and the bones of my descendants were dust. With thuds and clanks that were amplified in the enclosed space of the cistern mechanisms whirred to life. Water with a heavy mineral scent pooled at my feet as the cistern began to fill from the underground rivers from which they drew their precious resource. Before our astonished eyes the towering citadel in the centre of the cistern began to glow with scores of unique sigils.

The water rose lifting us off our feet. We were quite buoyant in this mineral rich water which glowed with honey coloured refracted light from the tower's glyphs. I pumped my wings experimentally and watched in amazement as the motion threw a number of glyphs into the water around me like bubbles. The priests once taught that water was spiritually charged and cleansing rituals with water purified the body and soul of sin. Perhaps they may have been onto something. I clanged my rambunctious glee and sported about in the water with a fluidity I had never possessed when I was alive. Being immersed in water felt wonderful, even better than flying! Aether raised a voluminous sleeve to her mask in a gesture that was more habit than functional. She looked very much as if she were trying to hide a smile.

Putting my feet together and pumping them like a dolphin I looped around her. The cool water made our clothing glow and billow around us. I swam in front of Aether performing a nimble little spin and chimed a happy exclamation. She chirped a giggle pumping her own wings. I followed and watched as she broke the surface and sped straight up. Changing the angle of her wings she came into a dive skimming the top of the water leaving a trail of ripples as she completed a circuit of the underground citadel. Spotting a glyph she powered upwards to a ledge on the citadel snagging it. I repeated her example noting with interest a number of platforms with swarms of ribbon creatures nearby. I landed with a light metallic click on a platform and sang out for Aether. The noise summoned the swarm of ribbons who whisked me upwards.

Aether soared overhead and chimed the loudest sound I had heard her make summoning the ribbon flock to boost her up to my height. I gave the ribbons one last parting gong and used the momentum to propel myself to the next platform and the next using them like stepping stones across a pond. Each platform was just a little higher above the surface of the water than the last and the final platform stood within easy distance of another shrine.

We launched ourselves up to the shrine and in moments had activated the markers. The mural scribed a picture of the tower where Wing and I had freed the Promethean cloth from the terrible fate of enslavement inside the Jörmungandr. With a clank the pumps went to work. I turned to look behind me I watched with delight the promethian cloth being freed from the citadel where it had been harnessed to the mundane task of water purification. To my surprise the flock merged to become the jellyfish-like promethian cloth creatures floating just above the water. Blind arrogant fools that we were we had taken the sacred gift of these creatures and committed the sacrilege of utilizing them as beasts of burden. We swam toward them breaking the water with a splash and leapt into the air. I floated with the cloth chiming an apology to it for our actions as it cooed and churned at my touch. We danced with them expressing our admiration, laughing and playing with them as they twirled and lit from within.

I spotted a glint of light off in a far corner and flew over to investigate. Another glyph was hidden in one of the structures along the wall. I watched it cycle into different characters trying to see if it would turn into one of the few I recognized. I heard a frantic chiming and leaned out of the enclosure. Aether was flying about erratically sounding quite alarmed though I could not identify the cause. I sang out in my very loudest knell and she altered her course swooping at me at top speed. Before I had a chance to react she slammed into me full force knocking me on my rump. She landed lightly on her feet and marched over buffeting me over the head with her wing and scolding. I realized that she must not have seen me come here and had been searching for me. I did my best to look sheepish for making her worry and gestured at the glyph with a wing.

She eyed the glyph and thumped me on the head once more for good measure. Her blows didn't hurt but they very effectively demonstrated she didn't appreciate me going haring off on my own. I picked myself up and bowed apologetically. She chimed as though satisfied with my apology and reached out to touch the glyph. The floating symbol dissipated, swirling around her like fireflies to add to her power. I felt a slight pinch of envy at her longer scarf before discarding the feeling as meaningless and picking up the symbol myself.

We continued upwards, flying up the tails and onto the delicate forms of the promethian creatures bouncing on them to hear their sounds of pleasure before winging over to the next. We activated the uncanny mural which displayed our passage through the treacherous underground passage of the Jörmungandr. The water rose again revealing more glowing glyphs on the tower's surfaces. It was clear someone had mapped out the path we would take to the mountain. Perhaps some prophet foretold that the restless spirits of our war torn era would rise again and had left murals to instruct us in our forgotten history so we might find our way. From a entryway in the wall far to my right emerged a creature of promethian cloth larger than any I had yet seen. It had a wide head and long slim body with legs or fins all made of cloth. It was about the size of a Jörmungandr but it moved with a slow and majestic grace.

A Promethean Dragon!

We watched in silent awe as it came closer and chirped excitedly to each other when it spoke to us in it's undulating tones. In my excitement I jumped on it's back letting it carry me along in the current it created in the water. Aether lept up behind me singing out her joy like the tolling of a dragon slid from the water and into the air with a transition so smooth I almost didn't notice it. It circled the citadel giving me a chance to look around. On the outside wall I saw another shrine and inside the central tower I saw another of the holy glyphs. Jumping off the dragon's back with Aether on my tail I swooped over to the glyph grabbing it at a run before running to the opening facing the shrine to jump on the dragon's back to boost myself onto the shrine.

I went over immediately to the markers but Aether shook her head. She wanted to see where the dragon had come from first. She located the opening from which it had emerged and pointed to it. Cocking my head I chirped quizzically at her but followed her across the cistern over to the was a large round antechamber with the promethian cloth hanging like banners from between pillars in the wall. Unlike the cloth we had seen before this looked deliberately decorative. In the centre of the room stood another mural. Aether dutifully approached and activated the markers.

The mural showed the cistern with it's underground citadel. A large number of people attended a funeral at it's base. I knew instinctively this had happened after my death but despite that I could still reasonably guess what it signified. The cistern would have made an ideal shelter from the weapons that destroyed the cities on the surface. My generation's actions had destroyed the atmosphere and sterilized the soil. Our descendants, now our predecessors foresaw that they were doomed and healed the political rifts that had divided them. They had holed up in these caverns with what food remained and waited for it to run out. Aether chimed sadly and placed her wing delicately on the mural. I saw that the grim prospect that had faced our descendants was evident to her as well and had effected her deeply. I placed a supportive wing on her shoulder and chimed by way of telling her that I would be nearby. When she grasped my meaning she nodded her approval and sat before the mural deep in contemplation.

Poking around behind the banners I found a hall behind the pillars that followed the curvature of the room. It didn't lead anywhere but in one end of it I found another holy glyph. I chimed three distinct notes to Aether who came to investigate. We picked up the glyph and left the room riding the Dragon back up to the next shrine and activating its markers. It showed us a picture of the broken bridge Wing and I had crossed... Behind me the water rose and a ribbon bridge stretched from a metal platform suspended by delicate chains to another platform a short distance away. We hopped up onto the ornate brass and glided over the surface of the ribbon bridge. At the next platform the ribbon bridge extended ahead of us leading us in a gentle upward spiral.

Crossing these delicate pathways we hopped onto yet another shrine. I noted with satisfaction that we were very close to the top. The shrine's mural revealed another vignette of our journey. The race through the city at sunset. Turning around I saw the water level with the steps to the top of the citadel which was fully written over with the old words like a... Dawning comprehension rocked me back on my heels. The tower was a vast cenotaph of an entire generation written in characters of the ancient script lit from within! Swimming the last length to the tower we stepped up into the air. It was chillier than I expected but I barely noticed for my attention was drawn to the walls of the cistern. Around it's edge were shrines with golden murals telling the story of our journey. Up the temple steps we climbed setting alight the inner fires of the markers there. As we reached the top we saw the sparkling white marble statue and called it's attendant markers to life.

The circle of light appeared and we stepped boldly into it. I heard an odd sound and looked about me startled. The ceiling of the cistern lit with glyphs bathing us in their light. Astonishingly they began to fall about me like snow flooding into the circle at my feet. The world around us took on a misty insubstantial form and the figure in white stood before me with the mural at it's back. I saw myself born anew in the desert and my meeting with Wing at the broken bridge. I saw our liberation of the promethian scarves in the desert and our flight down the slopes of the city into the caverns. I saw Aether and I as we evaded the hungry Jörmungandr and our climb up the tower. Then I saw what was to come. A wind so strong we bowed our heads fighting against it.

_One last test of faith._

The vision faded and I saw through the high window the Mountain in the distance no longer seeming quite so far away. The doors before us opened with slow deliberation and snow drifted through the grated windows. We ran side by side to the door without looking back. We were ready to face this last challenge together.


	7. Chapter 7 - Sacrifice

The doors shut behind us sealing off the way back. We stepped lightly through fresh snow our feet sinking into the powdery substance. Passing through an arch and into a snowy mountain pass the sky with it's soft predawn glow seemed almost overwhelming. I had expected to feel relieved with the absence of rock overhead but found instead that I felt uncomfortably exposed. Looking up I saw a stone bridge broken at it's midpoint crossed the pass to the entrance of a fortress on the mountaintop. Kites sailed by migrating to the sacred mountain their movements unusually direct and sluggish. One unfortunate kite wobbled and unable to maintain altitude impacted the snow at the bottom of the pass with a muted crunch. Aether sprinted ahead to where the kite rested with it's trio of tails waving in the bitter wind. She chimed lighting up the symbols along it's length but it did not stir. Trailing her wing over it's tails she chimed to it as if trying to coax it from the snow. I lent my power to the effort but without result. Nothing we could do roused the ill fated creature.

We moved on compelled by the icy wind not to linger. It was deathly cold here and I feared for our safety. I knew promethian cloth creatures could not die from exposure to this accursed weather but they like the kite we had witnessed could freeze and become dormant. I did not relish the idea of remaining locked in ice forever on these lonely slopes.

We continued through the mountain pass. A Jörmungandr hunted the skies overhead it's hollow metallic scream rending the air. The beast preyed on the migrating kites clipping one and sending it tumbling to earth. I mourned for the playful creature singing sadly as I watched it fall. Aether drew close and wrapped a wing around me giving me a one armed hug and I felt delicious warmth creep through my body as the hem of my robe glowed. The monstrosity took no notice of us as we trudged through the heavy snow but their presence made us more than a little uneasy.

We came to a series of large deeply carved slabs of basalt that looked like a coiled serpents with triangular heads that formed a loop at the top of the stones. These slabs were about one and a half times our height and as we approached I noticed a deep resonant sound. Hunting for the source I noted that the sound was growing louder. The wind cut through my robes with biting edge like a razor. Ice crystals began to form on my cloak making my movement sluggish. I ducked behind a slab out of the wind and huddled there with Aether. Contact with my friend made the ice crystals melt away in an instant to my considerable personal relief.

Taking advantage of a break in the wind we utilized what little power of flight we had regained from huddling for warmth to glide a short distance toward the next stone. I reached out to steady myself on the slab as a blast of wind threw me slightly off balance and yanked my wing away when I felt the stone vibrate. That was the source of the noise I heard, someone had carved these basalt statues to whistle when the gale winds funnelled through the aperture at the top! We slogged through the drifts avoiding the tempest when the whistling stone's thrum began to raise in volume by ducking behind them. At one point I was not fast enough and lost a good deal of ground when the blizzard knocked me off my feet and caught my robes like a sail. As mortal beings we might have marched through the wind unhindered but our promethian forms were as light as thistledown. Without the waystones we would have never made it to the narrow fissure in the canyon wall.

The gale slackened as we reached the other side of the crevasse. Tombstones carved from indigenous rock littered the snowy slopes. This mountain volcanic range must have been the source of the basalt for all the headstones we had seen and more than likely the origin of the impurity free white marble that the shrines of the ancestors were comprised of as well. I was beginning to think my fascination with stonework stemmed from some past interest in geology. I still had no idea what sort of person I had been before the war started and couldn't resist trying to guess. An interest in stone could mean I was a scientist, a quarry man, a stonemason or a sculptor.

Or maybe I just liked stonework. I wished I knew!

Empty segments of Jörmungandr golem rested at odd angles wedged into the mountainside amongst the graves. In one a promethian kite sheltered cooing a greeting to us it's sides laced with hoarfrost. We spoke to it lending it the energy to melt the frost and it swooped around us gratefully before flying up the slope a short distance. In the treacherous wind the moisture still clinging to it refroze and it darted into a new sanctuary in another of the golem sections. Aether and I did our best to warm it again but it refused to budge from it's new shelter. We pressed on whispering our apologies for needing to leave it behind.

The full moon was setting in the predawn sky as we scurried up the crags of stone that formed uneven stairs up the mountain. We passed clusters of graves fighting the wind as we climbed. The ice on our robes was thicker and refroze instantly if we did not remain in constant contact. The rhythmic movement of walking was beginning to sting as the crystals chafed the cloth we were made of like sandpaper. Up ahead Aether spotted an fortified alcove and we made for it eager to be out of the cruel winds.

Inside the shelter stood a lantern surrounded by graves. As we approached they resonated quietly with a hum almost lost beneath the sound of the wind. The lantern lit with a ball of energy and the space inside the shelter warmed within seconds melting the ice from our cloaks. A flock of promethian ribbons descended from above and we called to them feeling that glorious sensation of weightlessness as they pulled us up. I hadn't realized how limited I felt not being able to fly. There was a ledge there with another mural. Aether and I looked at each other and activated it watching it reveal a picture of the fortress we had seen from the foot of the canyon. Overhead a great battle raged with people on the backs of Jörmungandr. This was an ancient battleground and a dangerous but necessary route.

We basked in the warmth of the lantern steeling ourselves for the challenge ahead. We were quiet both of us lost in thought. Aether walked to the entrance of the shelter resting a wing on the wall of the shelter peering out into the blizzard that was turning the sky as white as the ground. I joined her giving her an encouraging chirp before stepping back into the cold.

The rising natural stone steps took us to the broken bridge we had seen from the canyon bottom. It was spanned by a length of promethian banner that had frozen solid anchored to the far end of the bridge. The end closest to us just out of range the wind having whipped it into an upward curve. Our voices warmed it and it reached out to us allowing us entry past the fortress wall.

We strode up the steps and into a world of white. For an instant I wondered if this was a vision like we had seen before the wind cut through me too painfully to not be real. The sky was clouded over and wind whipped the powdery snow into the air like mist. We fought against the primal power of the blizzard as we hastened up the slope. Almost fully obscured by the falling snow and low cloud cover a Jörmungandr circled the old battle site hunting for food.

We passed a whistling stone. The great beast took notice of the movement and swooped down to investigate. We huddled in the husk of a broken Jörmungandr as the eerie searchlight bathed the snow all around our fragile shelter with bright light. The monster passed and I chimed a signal to Aether. The wind picked up as we raced for the next segment drag from our billowing wings slowing us down. We made it but only just as the beast made another pass. The instant that terrible light moved on we wasted no time in making it to the next bit of cover. The Jörmungandr seemed to lose interest after another pass and flew off in the direction of the mountain to continue it's hunt. In dismay I noted it left in the direction we were headed. Cursing I searched our surroundings and spotted an alternate route to the left and pointed it out to Aether who nodded with obvious relief.

Fighting the wind we passed two whistling stones which lead us to an ice cavern. Inside we found another fortification with a mural. Once activated it showed us a mass exodus to the mountain. When viewed this etching I knew with a certainty I could not explain that in the last days our people had gone to beg the gods for help. I did not need to be told that it was beyond even the power of the gods to mend the world we had destroyed. The gods however were merciful and had given our restless souls a chance to find peace and atone for the destruction we had wrought through the blind arrogance of taking their blessings for granted. Aether and I stood before the mural in silence. We clasped wings feeling the strength ebb and flow between us. The storm still raged outside but in this moment of quiet we were warmed from within. I loved her. Not romantic love with it's thrall of physical passion but a deep platonic devotion. Whatever trials lay ahead we would face the God's judgement together and we would not be afraid.

We facing the storm with renewed resolve we slipped like ghosts past the hungry Jörmungandr moving between the broken pieces of golem which littered the battlefield. The wind tore at us mercilessly but we paid it no heed putting aside our discomfort. We reached the safety of a narrow crevasse with gravestones perched atop the rocky crags. Kites floated above sheltered from the wind by the high rock walls cooing their support as they passed . We followed their flight to an old bailey of the fortress. Someone had crashed a Jörmungandr here and the promethian cloth that powered it had taken root and grown and spread under a coat of ice into long fronds. We used the fronds to climb the cliff face and passed through the gate to the exterior wall of the fortress. Exposed on the outer rail of the fortifications we met the force of the tempest. Using debris as a windbreak we charged along the side and up a flight of stairs taking advantage of momentary lulls in the wind. Past windows we charged utilizing a strand of promethian cloth to jump a break in the platform. We turned through a gateway and met the full force of the wind.

A vast rising plain stood before us dotted with graves. Lightening flashed overhead and the tempest roared. Wind snatched the heat from our bodies as we fought against it. Our scarves grew brittle from cold and snapped to fragments at our backs. I chimed encouragement to Aether my voice snatched away but the gusts. She answered me with the faintest chime but I sensed determination behind it. We trudged doggedly up the slope keeping the mountain shining it's beacon of hope in our sights. We had to believe we would make it. Ice formed on our capes cracking as we moved sending fiery darts of pain through my being. Our movements became more sluggish as our red robes became encrusted with ice. It became harder and harder to move forward as I felt my cloth skin crackle with the exertion. I watched Aether struggle ahead of me and I forced myself to continue. I bowed my head against the wind digging in my heels.

The gusts fell away and the clouds swallowed the mountain. I looked about me unsure of which way to go. Aether chimed at me her voice weak and I answered her hearing powerlessness in the feeble sound I uttered. I plunged ahead moving slower and slower as I felt my skin go numb and frigid. Each step became more laboured and sound faded away until all I could hear was the snapping the cloth of my body made as I forced it to move. Aether struggled beside me fighting the paralysis that was imminent.

Aether...

She toppled into the snow her strength deserting her at last. I dropped to my knees. Perhaps this was how this Journey was always supposed to end. I had befriended those who had been my mortal enemies. I had rescued the promethian cloth creatures we had enslaved. I mourned the world we had destroyed and bathed in the purifying waters of the cistern to cleanse my soul of anger and grief.

I was ready to rest.

I pitched forward landing inches from where Aether's still body was already being covered by snow. I thanked the gods for letting me find this measure of peace and hoped Wing was safe wherever he was. My one regret was that I never had a chance to say goodbye. The world grew dim and meaningless as I sunk into a deep torpor. I heard the sound of snowflakes as they impacted my prone body and then heard nothing at all...

...


	8. Chapter 8 - Apotheosis

I rested on soft sand... or was it snow? It was hard to recall and not terribly important anyway. Cold lassitude had overwhelmed me making my thoughts disjointed and confused. With my body locked in shackles of ice and unable to move my mind roamed where I could not. I stumbled through a chaotic dreamworld made up of snatches of memory with no cohesive structure. Wistfully I supposed that under different circumstances I would have been fascinated by the revelations I uncovered regarding my personal history. However since I forgot most of what I was recollecting after only a moment or two I was quickly bored with the experience.

All in all the afterlife was proving to be very... disappointing.

I was mulling over a peculiar memory that had something to do with rain and elder bloom when I heard a voice. The voice was strange, otherworldly and yet somehow familiar. I dully wondered who it belonged to and was about to dismiss it as being my imagination playing tricks on me when it spoke again. I realized it was was not a single voice but six speaking as one.

_"We remained behind to guide you this far but the final steps are yours alone to take. Will you give up when you are so close to your goal?"_

Vexation pierced the fog of apathy that muddled my brain. I hadn't given up, I had made my peace with the world and all the mistakes I had made. I was ready to accept that my life was over. My people had spoiled the land with our lifestyles of excess and then annihilated each other along with the rest of the world. I had cast myself before the judgement of the gods for those crimes and they had rightfully deemed me unfit to set foot on the sacred mountain. I had gotten exactly what I deserved!

And yet...

Somewhere beside me Aether was sharing my damnation and the thought of it made my heart ache. If she were here she had to have played some part in our people's despicable past but surely she did not deserve to remain torpid with frost beyond any hope absolution for an eternity. She had shown true courage in trusting someone that during her lifetime she would have hated and feared. She had shown me compassion when I was hurt and had been steadfast in the face of danger. If she did not deserve this fate... did I?

I had been so absorbed in atoning for my misdeeds I had not considered that I might be worthy of amnesty. I was harsher on myself than I could ever have been on Aether or Wing. I silently asked the gods to forgive me for the foolish creature I had been and for all the pain and damage I had caused them and felt an answering call.

I had given up too easily anticipating that the gods would be angry but it was not anger I felt. Rallying my thoughts I gathered strength from my memories. I felt the joy as I soared across the desert with Wing, curiosity as we uncovered new secrets and despair at our separation. I felt the keen edge of regret when I began to remember who I had been and suspicion when I had met an enemy of the past. I had not let that suspicion get the better of me and had shown empathy and in turn Aether had shown me camaraderie and friendship. The bond between us had grown as we faced the dangers of the underground passage together and the freezing winds of the mountain passes.

I would not let our Journey end here!

The world around me came into crisp focus and the ground pulled away as I was lifted into the air by an unseen force. Warmth spread through my cloth body melting the ice as my scarf bloomed on my back to pool around my feet. I lifted my head and for a moment saw six figures in white fade into the ether and felt their unwavering support. Light radiated from me as I coiled my supple body and for an exhilarating instant felt the full potential of my renewed energy like a tightly wound spring.

I bounded into the air the wind roaring in my ears as I barrelled through the storm. The Jörmungandr that hunted the mountain sides darted past me howling their fury. The automatons did not trouble me for in my time I had been more a monster then they could ever be. They didn't justify their heinous actions or believe their conquest honourable they simply did what they were made to do. The petty fire they wielded was nothing to what I now possessed. They flanked me on either side drawing level with me as I cut a swath through the thunderhead. I emerged from the clouds and for an instant was blinded by a bright light.

The sky was a brilliant azure blue the rising sun bathing the snow capped spires of the mountains in dazzling light. The air here was thin and crystal clear. I cried out in astonishment as I reigned up to find my escort of Jörmungandr transformed into elegant Promethean dragons. They raced ahead with a speed I could not match. Until now I had seen the cloven peaks of the sacred mountain through the haze of the lower atmosphere but now I saw them gloriously sharp and distinct against the sky.

I heard a gong like the ringing of a temple bell beside me and my heart filled with delirious happiness. Aether looped around me the scarf on her back restored to it's fullest length. She called to me her voice ringing out in melodious glee. Ahead were some curiously level topped mountain peaks and we landed on the closest one to run in tight circles chiming our happiness to each other. We spun and danced beneath the bright silver disk of the moon which sat low in the sky fading into the daylight.

Beneath us the thunder clouds were an ocean of white mist extending in every direction. We played in it chasing each other through the mountain range. Promethean ribbons swarmed around us their vibrant red forms flashing in the sun. I found to my surprise that I could read the symbols along their length now though they moved too quickly for me to catch more than a word or two at a time. The promethian cloth was comprised of spirits, not of people but animals and plants!

Broad ribbon bridges connected the peaks leading the way to the mountain. We bounced on them playfully as we crossed them to the foot of a spirit gate which marked the ground beyond as sacred space. The vermillion paint of the spirit gate was perfectly preserved looking as fresh as the day it was raised. We wound through the pillars landing on the lintel to pause a moment and admire the landscape. Up ahead was a gentle slope covered in powdery snow and I could see the dragons waiting for us. We raced down the hill to join them abandoning ourselves to the thrill of the moment.

Kites and ribbons were in abundance and they raced with us calling their greetings. We laughed and plowed through the snow under a natural stone arch thick with stalactites. The bottom of the slope took us to the foot of a waterfall. Tall fronds of promethian cloth grew on the ledges glistening with water. We ascended the fronds entangling ourselves in each one as we continued up the waterfall the light spray soaking us but not weighing us down.

We passed through another arch this one mostly concealed by falling water. On the other side sat the globe-like promethian jellyfish floating in the heavy mist. We wended our way through them and past a spirit gate to a glorious cascade of waterfalls which fell into large stone basins of fresh water. In them Kites and Promethean dragons sported. I laughed and jumped on the back of the nearest dragon which lifted me high up into the air. I dropped from it's back with a whoop to splash into the water. Aether joined me slapping her wings on the surface to send up a spray of droplets which caught the light like prisms. We took our time delaying what was to come. We both knew once we had passed on to whatever awaited us beyond the light there would be no going back.

We passed through the posts of the final spirit gate and cried out in awe as our bodies became gilded with golden luminescence. As we ascended to the mountain top on a beam of light I sang my thanks to the gods and the ancestor spirits my sonorous voice blending with Aether's as we knelled our wordless hymn.

We landed between the peaks of the sacred mountain our scarves shrinking away as touched down on the snowy surface. I immediately missed my beautiful trailing scarf but I knew that where we were going I would not need it. Aether looked into the light and chimed morosely her eyes downcast. I understood her perfectly placing my sleeve on the chin of her mask and tilting her face up to look me in the eye. I lowered my forehead to hers with a click as the brass bands on our masks met as I had the the underground passage of the Jörmungandr. She drew me into an embrace clasping me with a strength that were I truly alive would have left me breathless. The time had come for us to say goodbye...

We walk side by side surrounded by spirits and gods drawing ever closer to the source of the light. Around me I hear the spirits speak and am beginning to understand their whispers. This is not the end and I will not completely fade away. The experience and strength that I gathered on my journey will be rewoven into the cloth of the next pilgrim to take up my mantle. The world is full of spirits who remain blinded by wrath or despair. One by one the mountain will call them home and the cycle of their redemption shall continue on like a prayer wheel accumulating power. Perhaps when the last of us passes the twin peaks and time has healed the wounds of the world the mountain will create life anew. Perhaps these unborn creatures will learn of our mistakes and be loath to repeat them. In that I have less faith as the living are generally shortsighted and prone to repeating the past. I only hope the mountain gods will show those creatures the same patience and mercy they did us.

I begin to feel my body fade into the air and the sound of our footsteps grow quieter. I will miss this world but my time in it is over and it is time for someone else's to begin. The voices grow louder and I can hear familiar voices in their chorus. As the last vestiges of my physical body fades away I catch my first glimpse of what lay behind the light and at long last..

I remember my name.

* * *

Thank you for sticking with me through what is in essence a literal walk through of the game. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any thoughts, questions, queries, criticisms, concerns or just liked what you read feel free to comment. For any readers currently wearing a red cloak let me just say Chime pip chime chime chirp... Pwwwoooooonnng! Cheers!


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